Saving Prince Fredirich
by SirPeterWolfsbane2
Summary: After the recent death of his mother, a young prince flees his kingdom to escape from his step-father and step-brother. He ends up in Narnia, where he meets a female soldier named Nevaeh, and her best friend, a centaur named Windstorm. Together, the two help the prince reclaim his throne.


Nevaeh sat on top of Castor, a bow in her free hand. She reached behind her back and grabbed an arrow from her quiver. The doe was right in her line of sight. If she did everything right, it would only take one arrow to kill her. She notched the arrow into place and aimed for the heart. Castor stood surprisingly still as she let the arrow fly through the trees. Unfortunately, it kept flying. It went right under the doe, scaring her and driving her away, and it pierced the base of a tree straight across from her position.

"You missed."

Hearing that voice made Nevaeh cringe. She furrowed her eyebrows and replied coldly, "I know that."

Wind walked up beside her, his arms folded over his bare chest. "Then why did you do it?"

"I didn't miss on purpose," she snapped back. "I did what you said. I aimed for her heart, and I fired the shot."

"I did not tell you to aim for the heart. I told you to aim slightly above the heart so that you don't hit the forest floor like you just did." Wind took the bow from her hand and stole an arrow from her quiver. "Watch."

He notched the arrow into the bow and got into position. "I'm going to hit that bare patch on the tree you just barely hit. It's going to hit the middle. Now, watch what happens when I aim above the middle of that patch."

Nevaeh obeyed and kept her narrowed eyes focused on the arrow. The centaur took in a deep breath before releasing the string and letting the arrow sail through the air. The arrowhead pierced the middle of the bare patch, just like Wind had said. He lowered the bow and looked at Nevaeh, who glared fiercely back at him. "See?" he said. "All you have to do is aim slightly above the target."

Her glare did not soften. "I do not need your help."

"Clearly you do." Wind chuckled quietly as she muttered curse words under her breath. "You're lucky you're not in charge of hunting. Everyone would starve."

"I don't need your words of wisdom either," Nevaeh spat.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know I'm only teasing you, right?"

"I do," she replied, "and it's not making me happy."

"Obviously."

She handed the bow to Wind and hopped off of her mount to retrieve the arrows. The centaur held onto Castor's reins as Nevaeh walked towards the tree that bore the two arrows. She grabbed the one that was in the trunk, but when she bent down to pick up her misfired arrow, a third one flew right past her and into the same tree, causing Nevaeh to jump in surprise. She whipped herself around and looked at Wind. "What was that for? You nearly shot me!"

"That wasn't me," said Wind. "I would've hit you if I had done it. Besides, you've got all of the arrows with you. How could it have been me?"

"Then who was it?"

Nevaeh pulled the mysterious arrow out of the tree. It looked much different than hers. The arrowhead was silver instead of stone, and much thinner. The feathers on the end were blue instead of red like hers. She had never seen an arrow like this before. Nevaeh walked back to Castor and Wind. "Do you recognize this arrow?"

Wind took the arrow from her and examined it closely. "I'm afraid not," he replied, handing it back to her.

In the distance, the two heard the sound of hooves cantering across the forest floor. Wind quickly grabbed an arrow from the quiver on Nevaeh's back and readied himself for whatever was coming their way. The hoofbeats grew louder and louder, until they could see the horse and rider that was causing the noise. The horse was a large steel grey stallion, decked out in black tack. The rider was hard to see at first, but once he came into view, Nevaeh noticed that he was quite handsome. He had tanned skin and hair as dark as hers. His eyes were very light, and when he came close, she saw that they were green. A beard was just starting to grow on his face. He looked worried once he saw Wind with an arrow pointed at him.

"Who are you?" Wind demanded, still aiming the arrow at the stranger.

"Please," said the man, "I mean you no harm."

He had an accent, but Nevaeh could not figure out what type it was. _Portuguese, perhaps?_ she thought to herself. _Or maybe Spanish? Something like that._ Wind refused to lower his weapon. "What is your name?"

"My name is Prince Fredirich," he replied. "Now will you please put your weapon away."

Reluctantly, Wind obeyed. He stuck the arrow back into Nevaeh's quiver and kept the bow at his side. "Forgive me," said Fredirich. "I did not mean to almost shoot you. Are you hurt?"

Nevaeh shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"I normally do not miss my target, but this time my confidence got the best of me. Once again, I apologize. May I have my arrow back? I only have so many."

"Of course." Nevaeh walked up next to the large horse and handed him his arrow.

"Thank you, miss." Fredirich put the arrow back into his quiver. "Now, where are my manners? Clearly they have gone on vacation, because I have forgotten to ask what your names are."

Wind raised an eyebrow at what he considered to be a very curious human being. "My name is Nevaeh. And the centaur behind me is Windstorm."

Wind crossed his arms. "I could've introduced myself," he muttered to himself in the background.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both."

"Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?"

Fredirich nodded. "Of course, Lady Nevaeh."

"Clearly you are not the Prince of Narnia, so where are you from?"

The prince leaned forward in the saddle. "I come from a very small kingdom across the sea," he replied. "I have traveled from there to here so I may explore and have an adventure. This is my first time here, so I thought I'd do some hunting. It's my favorite thing to do back home."

"If you're a prince, then where are your guards?" Wind asked. "Surely a king would not let his son go to a foreign land without guards to accompany him."

A small smile formed on Fredirich's face. "You're right," he replied. "If he were alive today, I'm sure he would have sent plenty of guards to protect me. And if my step-father cared enough about me, he would've sent some as well."

"What about your mother?" questioned Nevaeh.

"Also dead. She 'mysteriously' passed away shortly after marrying my step-father."

Wind took a step forward, a suspicious look on his face. "Forgive me if I sound rude," he said to Fredirich, "but what exactly is the situation in your kingdom? It seems rather odd to me."

"Don't apologize," he replied. "It's odd to others as well. But in reality, it's not that odd. My father died a few years ago in battle. At the time, my mother thought I was too young to become king, so she decided to run the kingdom herself. However, over the years the job got to be a little too much for her to handle on her own, and according to her I was still too young to be king, so as soon as she found a man that was interested in her, she married him. Unfortunately, about a week after she got married, she passed away. My step-father now rules my kingdom, and his son, who is only one year older than myself, is next in line for the throne."

"I take it you're not here just for the hunting then," Wind inquired.

Fredirich grinned. "You caught me," he replied. "I believe my step-father was the one who killed my mother just so he could have the crown all to himself, and I'm afraid he may come after me next to insure the safety of his heir."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Nevaeh asked. Wind shot a glare at the back of her head that went unnoticed by Fredirich.

He pondered this thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose you could keep an eye out for any of the guards from my kingdom. Their horses wear blue and silver garments, and the men wear silver armor. If you do see them around, feel free to come find me in the woods."

"You're going to stay in the woods?" Nevaeh asked, sounding concerned.

"It's the safest place for me at the moment," he replied.

Nevaeh turned around and looked at Wind. "Do you think he could stay with King Caspian?"

He shrugged. "We would have to talk with him first and explain the situation."

"He's a good man," she said. "I'm sure he'll say yes."

Nevaeh walked over to Castor and stuck her foot in the stirrup. "So," said Fredirich as soon as she was in the saddle, "what is the plan here?"

"We'll be right back," she responded. "If all goes well, you will have a safe place to stay in the castle."

She turned to look at Wind. "Lead the way, old friend."

He smirked. "Will do."

With Wind as her guide, Nevaeh rode back to the castle, leaving Fredirich in the woods to wait for further instructions.


End file.
